Paintwork care

Regular paintwork maintenance is a job that always pays off, as matte, scratched paintwork surfaces significantly detract from the Fiesta's appearance. The new surface does not require much attention. It is enough to constantly wash and eliminate traces of stone impacts, asphalt stains and insect residues. Care of a paint and varnish covering needs to be begun right after a car wash. The sun, rain, salt on the roads, dirt and other negative environmental influences do their dirty work, so the paintwork constantly requires thorough cleaning.

Paint care product

Which tool to choose depends on the condition of your car. For a new, well-preserved coating, a soft polish is sufficient. It evens out small unevenness of the paintwork, formed from bad weather and mechanical influences. In addition, modern polishes contain wax components that preserve the paintwork. For a new coating, the use of a strong cleaning agent leads to damage - for an old one that has many cracks, it is just right, as the result of its application will be brilliant.

Thorough paint care

First of all, the cleaning agent acts as a polish, its formulation contains relatively large abrasive particles, which removes tough dirt. Before you decide to repaint your beat-up car, try to apply a quality cleaner. As a rule, cleaning agents do not contain preservative components. Therefore, prepared (purified) the paintwork in the second stage is covered with car wax.

The harmful effects of the sun on the paintwork

With a new or restored paintwork, it is recommended to carry out conservation two to three times a year. It maintains the gloss and optimizes the protection of the coating for a long time. Most polishes and cleaners in bright sunlight are very aggressive to the paintwork. Therefore, it is better to carry out work in the shade or in the garage, where chemical compounds have no chance of damaging the paintwork of your Fiesta car.




SEQUENCE OF WORK

1. Wash and dry your vehicle thoroughly.

2. On a relatively inconspicuous place, first check how the paintwork interacts with the polish.

Apply only a thin layer of product, as too much cleaner will wear off more of the paintwork than needed. It is better to clean the surface in several steps.

3. Apply polish or cleaner with cotton and synthetic wadding (fist sized tampons). Rub the product in circular motions with light pressure. Always treat only a small area.

4. Already after a short time of action, a dry white layer of the product is formed, which is polished in a circular motion. If the paintwork is badly damaged, pay attention to the edges. Do not treat one place for too long, otherwise you will sand the coating down to the primer.

5. Change or rotate the cotton ball regularly as the surface becomes clogged with polish or cleaning agent particles.

6. Wipe the surface with a clean cotton cloth at the end of the work to remove any remaining polishing agent and cotton fibers.

Preservation of the paintwork

1. Apply car wax to cotton wool. The dimensions of the treated surface depend on the agent used.




Pic. 3.12. Application of the preservative with a cotton swab in a circular motion with light pressure on areas of the surface with an area of 0.5 m2²

2. Apply the preservative with light pressure in a circular motion: an even application increases the gloss of the car paintwork (pic. 3.12)

WARNING

The preservatives have a high content of solvents, so make sure that there is sufficient ventilation in closed rooms.



Pic. 3.13. Rubbing a white layer of preservative with a cotton swab until a perfect shine is obtained

To make the coating transparent and without streaks, rub the white layer of the product to a shine with large cotton swabs. When the polishing motion becomes difficult, rotate or change the cotton swab (pic. 3.13).


3. Cotton wool should slide easily with little resistance over the coating. Therefore, turn the cotton swab more often and change it in a timely manner.

4. If streaks or cloud-like spots remain on the coating after applying the preservative, the cause is contaminated paint particles left over from the previous polishing. Treat these places again with this polishing paste.



Pic. 3.14. Re-treatment with a cotton cloth of a polished surface to remove a layer of preservative and cotton wool fibers

Finally, polish the surface again with a cotton cloth. This will remove the remaining layer of preservative and, of course, cotton wool fibers (pic. 3.14).



Pic. 3.15. Soft polishing paintwork

If the preservative drops into droplets when applied to the paint surface, the surface stress of the coating is too high. In this case, before conservation, try to treat this place with soft polishing (pic. 3.15).